Ecology

Wineberry

Anne Gageby
Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve

(7/2025) Berry picking has long been one of my favorite summertime activities. Growing up on the mountain, my grandparents regularly took me and my siblings to pick berries during the summer. We’d search for black raspberries, wineberries, blackberries, and more. Foraged foods were a staple in our household as store-bought foods were expensive, and berries were in abundance if you knew where to look. And foraged berries were exponentially better than store-bought in terms of flavor, color, and availability.

It wasn’t until I became an adult that I learned how invasive and problematic wineberries are. Furthermore, I didn’t know wineberries and raspberries were two separate species. I had assumed that wineberries were so named because that was just what mountain folk called them. Their canes and berries have a wine-like color, after all. Maybe growing on a mountainside just made them a little brighter, a little bolder, hence the name wineberries as opposed to just raspberries.

As an adult, however, I’ve discovered that I was both right and wrong about this little fruit. Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) is an invasive plant in the same genus as blackberries and raspberries. It grows spiny, dense thickets that are impenetrable for larger wildlife. The canes appear reddish because of their thick coat of red hairs. These red hairs help distinguish wineberry from its cousins, the black raspberry and blackberry, both of which have such sparsely populated thorns along their canes that they appear almost bald in comparison.

Similar to raspberry, wineberry, has silvery underleaves and a fruit core that remains on the stem when the berries are picked. Both have a raspberry-like flavor though wineberries are a little more tart and are a little brighter in flavor. Wineberries are also a bit smaller and juicier than their cousin.

This little sunburst of a berry was introduced to North America in the late 1880s as a breeding stock for cultivated raspberries. As with so many other invasives, it escaped cultivation, establishing itself in natural areas by the mid-1900s. It’s more aggressive than many of our native berries and tolerates a wider range of soils, light, and moisture. It can be established in forest understories and roadsides alike. In our area of Pennsylvania, if there’s a disturbance to the land, there’s likely wineberry. Our climate and our soils are perfect for reproduction, and it has made its intentions clear: it’s here to stay. Wineberry can now be found in most states east of the Mississippi.

It may dominate certain areas but at least it’s delicious. I grew up eating jellies, jams, pies, sauces, and more made from foraged berries and wineberry is no different. As an adult, I created my own recipe for a wineberry jam that’s similar to my grandma’s only it has a dash of whipped cream vodka that brings out the full flavor of the berry as the alcohol cooks off. I also make jam called Fruits of the Forest with a combination of sweet cherries, blackberries, strawberries, and wineberries. I decided to add the wineberries almost as an afterthought because I wasn’t sure if they would be too tart for the overall flavor profile, but I was happy to discover that wasn’t the case.

Wineberry is versatile and makes an excellent addition to many foods. Chicken baked in a wineberry glaze? Absolutely. Fresh wineberries tossed in a salad with blue cheese crumbles and almonds? A perfect dish for a July picnic. Wineberry crisp? A great breakfast choice. Wineberries are also a great source of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. They’re refreshing and abundant in our area. After years of cooking with this particular berry, I’m convinced there’s little wineberry couldn’t do.

If you’re interested in foraging this or any other wild berries, please keep a couple of things in mind. Identification is absolutely critical when foraging for anything. Use more than one source when practicing your identification skills. Find good, clear photos or images of what you’re looking for and compare them to your find. Fortunately, wineberry is a beginner-friendly berry to forage. Wineberries are vibrantly red when ripe and look like smaller, rounder red raspberries. This helps differentiate it from native black raspberries and blackberries though both are edible. It has three leaflets per leaf. Many blackberry species have five leaflets so count them to make sure you’re picking the right berry.

Wineberry has another unique feature in that the fruit is covered by sepals, hairy green to red petal-like structures, until it’s just about ripe. It’s also covered in a sticky substance that coats fingers making them feel sort of waxy when berry picking. Gloves or hand wipes are a good idea for the average forager.

Black raspberry, on the other hand, has whitish underleaves and the berries are usually a deep purple-black. Stems are green and have a bluish cast that rubs off when touched. Their thorns are sparse but robust and you’ll know if one has pricked you. Red raspberries likewise have thorns but theirs are smaller and fewer per cane. They produce red fruit that looks quite similar to wineberry but the canes are green and have very few, if any, hairs, unlike its wild cousin.

If you’re still unsure about identifying wineberries or other wild edibles, go with a knowledgeable guide who can teach you different identification methods and tips about each plant you’re searching for. And know your property lines to make sure you’re not foraging on someone’s private property without permission. Check local and state forest regulations before hitting trails in search of a snack. And follow ethical foraging practices to ensure a sustainable harvest. To be fair, wineberries don’t seem to be going anywhere soon and considering how they’re crowding out native species, ethical foraging might mean collecting more than your fair share. Even the most robust colony of wineberry plants can become memory if conditions are right or if every forager collects with abandon but that’s not entirely a bad thing in certain areas where it has pushed out more needed native species.

Wineberries will always have a special place in my heart and at my family’s table. They’re a fine summer staple in my household and one that is useful for a wide variety of meals. And foraging for this lovely berry is something I look forward to every summer.

Anne Gageby is the Environmental Education Manager of the Strawberry Hill Foundation. Strawberry Hill inspires stewardship of our natural world by
connecting the community with educational opportunities.
 Learn more by visiting StrawberryHill.org.